Grade 3 Social Studies Alabama standards Standards

Geographical and Historical Studies: People, Places, and Regions

Locate the prime meridian, equator, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, International Date Line, and lines of latitude and longitude on maps and globes.

Using cardinal and intermediate directions to locate on a map or globe an area in Alabama or the world

Using coordinates to locate points on a grid

Determining distance between places on a map using a scale

Locating physical and cultural regions using labels, symbols, and legends on an Alabama or world map

Describing the use of geospatial technologies

Interpreting information on thematic maps

Using vocabulary associated with maps and globes, including megalopolis, landlocked, border, and elevation

Recognize functions of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

Describing the process by which a bill becomes law

Explaining the relationship between the federal government and state governments, including the three branches of government

Defining governmental systems, including democracy, monarchy, and dictatorship

Interpret various primary sources for reconstructing the past, including documents, letters, diaries, maps, and photographs.

Comparing maps of the past to maps of the present

Explain the significance of representations of American values and beliefs, including the Statue of Liberty, the statue of Lady Justice, the United States flag, and the national anthem.

Describe prehistoric and historic American Indian cultures, governments, and economics in Alabama.

Identifying roles of archaeologists and paleontologists

Locate the continents on a map or globe.

Using vocabulary associated with geographical features of Earth, including hill, plateau, valley, peninsula, island, isthmus, ice cap, and glacier

Locating major mountain ranges, oceans, rivers, and lakes throughout the world

Describe ways the environment is affected by humans in Alabama and the world.

Using vocabulary associated with human influence on the environment, including irrigation, aeration, urbanization, reforestation, erosion, and migration

Relate population dispersion to geographic, economic, and historic changes in Alabama and the world.

Identifying human and physical criteria used to define regions and boundaries

Compare trading patterns between countries and regions.

Differentiating between producers and consumers

Differentiating between imports and exports

Identify conflicts within and between geographic areas involving use of land, economic competition for scarce resources, opposing political views, boundary disputes, and cultural differences.

Identifying examples of cooperation among governmental agencies within and between different geographic areas

Locating areas of political conflict on maps and globes

Explaining the role of the United Nations (UN) and the United States in resolving conflict within and between geographic areas

Describe the relationship between locations of resources and patterns of population distribution.

Locating major natural resources and deposits throughout the world on topographical maps

Comparing present-day mechanization of labor with the historical use of human labor for harvesting natural resources

Explaining the geographic impact of using petroleum, coal, nuclear power, and solar power as major energy sources in the twenty-first century

Identify geographic links of land regions, river systems, and interstate highways between Alabama and other states.

Locating the five geographic regions of Alabama

Locating state and national parks on a map or globe

Identify ways to prepare for natural disasters.

Locate map features, using geographic terminology to describe them.

Explain why interactions and conflicts occurred between Europeans and Indigenous peoples in the Southeast from 1519 to the early 1700s, including differing beliefs regarding culture, land use and ownership, religion, and trade.

Describe French expeditions and colonization of Alabama, including the efforts of the LeMoyne brothers (Iberville and Bienville), establishment of forts, relationships with Indigenous peoples, and fur trade.

Locate on maps the French settlements in early Alabama, including Mobile (1702), Fort Toulouse (1717), and Fort Condé (1723), and describe their significance.

Identify the Equator, International Date Line, Prime Meridian, Tropic of Capricorn, and Tropic of Cancer, using cardinal and intermediate directions.

Locate points on a grid using latitude and longitude coordinates.

Use the map scale to calculate the distance between two locations.

Explain how geographic features, including land regions and river systems, connect Alabama to other states.

Interpret thematic maps to compare and contrast Alabama to other states.

Describe the geographic features and natural resources of Alabama regions, including the Alabama Ridge and Valley, Black Belt, Cumberland Plateau, Highland Rim, Lower Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Upper Coastal Plain.

Identify major river systems of Alabama and their points of origin, including the Alabama, Black Warrior, Cahaba, Chattahoochee, Coosa, Mobile, Perdido, Tallapoosa, Tennessee, and Tombigbee Rivers.

Research and share information on the development of the state and national park systems and the benefits parks provide.

Locate state and national parks within Alabama and explain their historical and economic significance.

Locate and describe the significance of state and national symbols, landmarks, and monuments.

Explain the economic, geographic, and social impact of natural disasters over time.

Describe how Alabama’s environment has been positively and negatively affected by human activity over time.

Compare and contrast the roles of anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists.

Describe Indigenous cultures, governments, and economies in the Southeast prior to European colonization.

Identify changes that took place in prehistoric/pre-contact cultures in the Southeast between the Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods.

Describe key characteristics of different tribes in Alabama in the Mississippian Period, contrasting social customs, political organization, and religious practices.

Explain reasons for European expeditions and the establishment of early settlements and colonies in North America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Trace and compare routes of early explorers of North and South America.

Describe key parts of Hernando de Soto’s expedition through Alabama and explain its effects on Alabama’s Indigenous peoples.

Early Colonization

Geography

Indigenous Alabama and European Exploration

People and the Environment